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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 700
2025-2026
Representative Williams
To
amend sections
117.01,
120.521
,
and 120.54 and to enact sections 9.631 and 3129.07 of the Revised
Code
to
modify the membership of the board of directors of the Ohio Access to
Justice Foundation and to prohibit the use of state funds for certain
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections
117.01,
120.521
,
and 120.54 be amended and sections 9.631 and 3129.07 of the Revised
Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
9.631.
Each
person administering a state or local public benefit, as defined in
division (c) of section 411 of the "Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," 8 U.S.C. 1621(c),
as amended, shall comply with that section. This section does not
apply when an individual applies for a state or local public benefit
described in division (b) of that section or for a state or local
public benefit for which the Revised Code affirmatively provides
eligibility for persons described in division (a) of that section.
Sec.
117.01.
As
used in this chapter:
(A)
"Color of office" means actually, purportedly, or allegedly
done under any law, ordinance, resolution, order, or other pretension
to official right, power, or authority.
(B)
"Public accountant" means any person who is authorized by
Chapter 4701. of the Revised Code to use the designation of certified
public accountant or who was registered prior to January 1, 1971, as
a public accountant.
(C)
"Public money" means any money received, collected by, or
due a public official under color of office, as well as any money
collected by any individual on behalf of a public office or as a
purported representative or agent of the public office.
"Public
money" includes the money in the access to justice foundation
fund established under section 120.521 of the Revised Code.
"Public
money" does not include either of the following:
(1)
Money or revenue earned by or from a person's ownership, operation,
or use of an asset, whether tangible or intangible, that either in
whole or in part was sold, was leased, was licensed, was the granting
of a franchise, or was otherwise transferred or conveyed by a public
office to the person pursuant to an agreement, authorized by law,
between the person and the public office in which the public office
received consideration from the person for the asset that was sold,
leased, licensed, franchised, or otherwise transferred or conveyed;
(2)
With respect to the transfer described in Chapter 4313. of the
Revised Code and the operation of the enterprise acquisition project,
revenues or receipts of or from the enterprise acquisition project in
the hands of the nonprofit corporation formed under section 187.01 of
the Revised Code or of a nonprofit entity the sole member of which is
that nonprofit corporation, but does include any taxes collected on
the spirituous liquor sales and then due the department of taxation
and amounts then due to the state general revenue fund pursuant to
section 4301.12 of the Revised Code. As used in this division,
"enterprise acquisition project" has the meaning defined in
section 4313.01 of the Revised Code.
(D)
"Public office" means any state agency, public institution,
political subdivision, other organized body, office, agency,
institution, or entity established by the laws of this state for the
exercise of any function of government. "Public office"
does not include the nonprofit corporation formed under section
187.01 of the Revised Code.
(E)
"Public official" means any officer, employee, or duly
authorized representative or agent of a public office.
(F)
"State agency" means every organized body, office, agency,
institution, or other entity established by the laws of the state for
the exercise of any function of state government.
(G)
"Audit" means any of the following:
(1)
Any examination, analysis, or inspection of the state's or a public
office's financial statements or reports;
(2)
Any examination, analysis, or inspection of records, documents,
books, or any other evidence relating to either of the following:
(a)
The collection, receipt, accounting, use, or expenditure of public
money by a public office or by a private institution, association,
board, or corporation;
(b)
The determination by the auditor of state, as required by section
117.11 of the Revised Code, of whether a public office has complied
with all the laws, rules, ordinances, or orders pertaining to the
public office.
(3)
Any other type of examination, analysis, or inspection of a public
office, or of the specific funds or accounts of a private
institution, association, board, or corporation into which public
money has been placed or deposited, that is conducted according to
generally accepted or governmental auditing standards established by
rule pursuant to section 117.19 of the Revised Code.
(H)
"Person" has the meaning defined in section 1.59 of the
Revised Code.
Sec.
120.521.
(A)
The state public defender shall establish a charitable, tax exempt
foundation, named the Ohio access to justice foundation, to actively
solicit and accept gifts, bequests, donations, and contributions for
use in providing financial assistance to legal aid societies,
enhancing or improving the delivery of civil legal services to
indigents, and operating the foundation. The Ohio access to justice
foundation shall deposit all gifts, bequests, donations, and
contributions accepted by it into the access to justice foundation
fund established under this section. If the state public defender,
pursuant to section 120.52 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to
June 30, 1995, established a charitable, tax exempt foundation named
the Ohio access to justice foundation and if that foundation is in
existence on the day before June 30, 1995, that foundation shall
continue in existence and shall serve as the Ohio access to justice
foundation described in this section.
(B)(1)
There
is hereby established the access to justice foundation fund, which
shall be under the custody and control of the Ohio access to justice
foundation. The fund shall contain all moneys distributed to the Ohio
access to justice foundation pursuant to section 120.53 of the
Revised Code and all gifts, bequests, donations, and contributions
accepted by the Ohio access to justice foundation under this section.
(2)
The
Ohio access to justice foundation shall distribute or use all moneys
in the access to justice foundation fund for the charitable public
purpose of providing financial assistance to legal aid societies that
provide civil legal services to indigents, enhancing or improving the
delivery of civil legal services to indigents, and operating the
foundation. The Ohio access to justice foundation shall establish
rules governing the administration of the access to justice
foundation fund.
(3)
The Ohio access to justice foundation shall not distribute or use any
money in the access to justice foundation fund for the provision of
legal services or assistance to any individual who is unlawfully
present in the United States. No recipient of money from the access
to justice foundation fund shall use the money for that purpose.
(4)
The
Ohio access to justice foundation shall include, in the annual report
it is required to make to the governor, the general assembly, and the
supreme court pursuant to division (G)(2) of section 120.53 of the
Revised Code, an audited financial statement on the distribution and
use of the access to justice foundation fund. No information
contained in the statement shall identify or enable the
identification of any person served by a legal aid society or in any
way breach confidentiality.
(5)
If the auditor of state determines, pursuant to an audit conducted
under section 117.10 of the Revised Code, that a recipient of money
from the access to justice foundation fund has used any of that money
for the provision of legal services or assistance to any individual
who is unlawfully present in the United States, both of the following
apply:
(a)
The auditor of state shall include in the audit report a finding for
recovery of both of the following:
(i)
The full amount of the money from the fund that was used for that
purpose;
(ii)
Any additional amount of money the person received from the fund on
or after the first date on which the person used any money from the
fund for that purpose.
(b)
The person is ineligible to receive any money from the access to
justice foundation fund, or to receive any grant of state funds for
any other reason, for a period of four years after the date of the
audit report.
(C)
The board of directors of the Ohio access to justice foundation shall
include at least one voting member who is the chief executive officer
of a legal aid society.
Membership
on the board of
directors
of
the
Ohio access to justice foundation does not constitute holding another
public office and does not constitute grounds for resignation from
the senate or house of representatives under section 101.26 of the
Revised Code.
(D)
The
Ohio access to justice foundation shall assist the chancellor of
higher education by determining the ratio, for each county in the
state, of attorneys to total population for the purpose described in
section 3333.132 of the Revised Code.
(B)
(E)
A
foundation is tax exempt for purposes of this section if the
foundation is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection
501(a) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat.
2085, 26 U.S.C. 501(a), as amended, and if the foundation has
received from the internal revenue service a determination letter
that is in effect stating that the foundation is exempt from federal
income taxation under that subsection.
Sec.
120.54.
(A)
A legal aid society that receives financial assistance from the legal
aid fund under section 120.53 of the Revised Code shall use the
financial assistance for only the following purposes:
(1)
To defray the costs of providing legal services to indigents;
(2)
To provide legal training and legal technical assistance to other
eligible legal aid societies; and
(3)
If the legal aid society has entered into an agreement pursuant to
division (H) of section 120.53 of the Revised Code and in accordance
with the description and list of conditions set forth in its
application pursuant to division (B)(9) of that section, to provide
funds for the services, programs, training, and legal technical
assistance provided to the legal aid society under the contract.
(B)
No financial assistance received by a legal aid society from the
legal aid fund pursuant to section 120.53 of the Revised Code shall
be used for
the
any
of the following:
(1)
The
provision
of legal services in any criminal case or proceeding
or in the
;
(2)
The provision of legal services or assistance to any individual who
is unlawfully present in the United States;
(3)
The
provision
of legal assistance in any fee generating case.
(C)
If the auditor of state determines, pursuant to an audit conducted
under section 117.10 of the Revised Code, that a legal aid society
has used any financial assistance received pursuant to section 120.53
of the Revised Code for the purpose described in division (B)(2) of
this section, both of the following apply:
(1)
The auditor of state shall include in the audit report a finding for
recovery of both of the following:
(a)
The full amount of the financial assistance the legal aid society
used for the purpose described in division (B)(2) of this section;
(b)
Any additional amount of financial assistance the legal aid society
received pursuant to section 120.53 of the Revised Code on or after
the first date on which the legal aid society used any financial
assistance for the purpose described in division (B)(2) of this
section.
(2)
The legal aid society is ineligible to receive any financial
assistance pursuant to section 120.53 of the Revised Code, or to
receive any grant of state funds for any other reason, for a period
of four years after the date of the audit report.
Sec.
3129.07.
(A)
No state agency or other entity that receives state funds shall
provide any grants, loans, or other services to any entity that uses
federal, state, or local funds to provide gender transition services
to minors.
(B)
If the auditor of state determines, pursuant to an audit conducted
under section 117.10 of the Revised Code, that an entity that
receives state funds has used federal, state, or local funds to
provide gender transition services to minors, both of the following
apply:
(1)
The auditor of state shall include in the audit report a finding for
recovery of both of the following:
(a)
The full amount of any state funds used to provide gender transition
services to minors;
(b)
Any additional amount of state funds the entity received on or after
the first date on which the entity used any federal, state, or local
funds to provide gender transition services to minors.
(2)
The entity is ineligible to receive any state funds or other state
services for a period of four years after the date of the audit
report.
Section
2.
That
existing sections
117.01,
120.521
,
and 120.54 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.